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Quranic Wisdom

A study of the Quran shows that the Quranic approach is based neither on mythology nor on superstition, but on scientific principles. When we use the term ‘scientific approach’ to describe a way of thinking, it always means that such thinking that is in accordance with reality. One with such a bent of mind will be scientific in all his dealings in the world. His thinking is totally in accordance with external realities.

A study of the Quran shows that its aim is to produce a universal approach in human beings. Universality means high thinking and an unbiased and unconditioned approach. We find an example of this quality in the Quran. It addresses us thus: ‘O man, O mankind.’ This shows that the approach of the Quran is based on universality. The very first chapter of the Quran begins with these words: ‘Praise be to God, the Lord and Sustainer of all mankind.’ Similarly, the Quran introduces God as the “Lord of the worlds”, and not just the Lord of the Muslims or the Lord of the Arabs.

Islam attaches great importance to knowledge, learning and education. When the Quran began to be revealed, the first word of its first verse was ‘iqra’, that is, read. Education is thus the starting point of every human activity.

The Quran, according to Muslim belief, is a book of revelations from God. Today, it exists in the form of a book, but all the 114 chapters of the Quran were not revealed at one time. They were sent bit by bit, according to circumstances, over a period of 23 years.

The Qur’an is a sacred book sent by the Lord of all creation. It is a book for all human beings. It was in the seventh century AD that Islam came to the world. According the Islamic belief, God sent the same religion to every nation that is, Islam.

Those who are introduced to the Quran only through the media, generally have the impression that the Quran is a book of jihad, and jihad to them is an attempt to achieve one’s goal by means of violence. But this idea is based on a misunderstanding. Anyone who reads the Quran for himself will easily appreciate that its message has nothing to do with violence. The Quran is, from beginning to end, a book, which promulgates peace, and in no way countenances violence. It is true that jihad is one of the teachings of the Quran.

The Quran is a book of divine warning. A combination of lessons and admonitions, it would be even more appropriately called a book of wisdom. The Quran does not follow the pattern of the traditional didactic book. In fact, when the average reader picks up the Quran, it appears to him to be a collection of fragmentary statements. Apparently this feeling is not unreal.

Every book has its objective and the objective of the Quran is to make man aware of the Creation plan of God. That is, to tell man why God created this world; what the purpose is of settling man on earth; what is required from man in his pre-death life span, and what he is going to confront after death. Man is born as an eternal creature. When God created man as such, He divided his life span into two periods, the pre-death period, which is a time of trial, and the post-death period, which is the time for receiving the rewards or punishment merited by one’s actions during one’s lifetime.

Medicines are accompanied by leaflets explaining what illnesses they are designed to cure, how they should be used and what their basic formulae are. But man is born into the world in such a condition that he knows neither what he is nor why he has been put here. No convenient handbook accompanies him, neither are there any signboards fixed to the summits of the mountains to give him directions or to provide him with answers to his questions. Man has, in consequence, formed strange opinions about himself, the earth and the sky, being ignorant of the essential reality of life.